IT, BPO top office space lessees

MEGAWORLD Corp. said it has leased out around 415,000 square meters of office spaces since the start of the pandemic last year.

In a disclosure on Thursday, the Andrew Tan-led firm said most of the lease contracts booked were renewals at 60 percent, while the remaining 40 percent were new leases.

In terms of sectors, the information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries made up the majority of the demand.

Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Tan also noted that around 80 percent of the leases in the first six months of this year were renewals.

“This also clearly indicates the strength and resilience of the office market within our pioneering townships,” Tan continued.

The company said that in the first half alone, new releases and renewals were recorded in Eastwood City, McKinley Hill, Uptown Bonifacio, The Mactan Newtown in Cebu, Southwoods City in Biñan in Laguna and Davao Park District in Davao City.

Meanwhile, Megaworld said that it has fully leased its Southwoods Office Towers earlier this year after an American renewable energy company and a BPO company specializing in customer care solutions took up the remaining spaces.

The four levels of the Davao Finance Center in Davao City were likewise leased to one of the largest BPO companies in the country during the first semester, according to the listed real estate firm.

Megaworld Premier Offices also continued to see a 90-percent occupancy rate, with some of its townships reaching a hundred like the Iloilo Business Park.

“These consistent take-ups of office spaces even in the middle of community lockdowns are not just in Metro Manila but also in key growth centers in the provinces. We are very happy and optimistic about how the office sector has so far been performing better than expected,” Tan said.

Megaworld posted a net income of P5 billion in January to June, down 7 percent year-on-year, while its consolidated revenues for the period stood at P22.2 billion.

Shares of Megaworld increased 2 centavos or.7 percent to close at P2.87 apiece on Thursday.

Article originally posted by Manila Times last September 3, 2021 and written by Faye Almazan.